


Flowing through the heated dark

by Widow_Spyder



Series: Whumptober 2019 (Anime) [14]
Category: Dr. STONE (Anime), Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: Fluff, Gen wears so many layers this was bound to happen, Heat Stroke, Light Angst, M/M, Prompt #30, Unconsciousness, Whumptober 2019, but not really at the same time, kind of a sick fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2021-01-13 09:17:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21241742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Widow_Spyder/pseuds/Widow_Spyder
Summary: His arms hated the thing with a burning passion, and here he was, in the scalding heat with four layers on, andexercising.It was a recipe for disaster. And disaster did come.





	Flowing through the heated dark

Gen groaned as he trudged along down the familiar forest path. Despite the awful heatwave, Senku was still having everyone work on the science kingdom’s new projects. 

Gen had already sweated buckets in just a few hours after the sun had risen. Though it probably didn’t help that he was wearing three layers plus a guard… He wasn’t about to take apart the intricate work he had put into putting on his outfit, no matter how humid it got. 

He could make do with fanning himself and cooling his feet in the river. Everyone was feeling the effects of the heatwave, the same way he was anyway. Senku looked absolutely haggard, and it was a wonder that he still had the energy to go as if it didn’t feel like a hundred degrees. Chrome and the rest of the villagers seemed pretty used to it, which made Senku and Gen look like amateurs when dealing with the weather. They couldn’t help it though; they had been stuck in stone for over 3,000 years, safely protected from the elements. 

However, today had Gen feeling like hell on earth. It was so hot, and he could barely move a finger without excessively sweating. He and the others lay in the shade, obsessively fanning themselves, trying to avoid Senku’s work schedule. But one by one, they were all eventually dragged back to work. Gen just wished he wouldn’t have to do anything hard. 

Then he was tasked with pumping the iron machine from hell, and everything went downhill from there. 

His arms hated the thing with a burning passion, and here he was, in the scalding heat with four layers on, and _exercising._ It was a recipe for disaster. And disaster did come. 

Gen was only about 12 minutes into pumping when his head started spinning like that one carnival ride he went on as a kid. He let go of the pump and walked back a few steps. Everything felt like it was getting heavier as if gravity decided to put the works on him. The surroundings he could see were starting to blur, which made his brain even more confused. Just as fast as the surroundings blurred, they faded out altogether. 

He was — in Senku’s words — ten billion percent sure, his eyes were open, and yet everything was pitch black. It was like he had suddenly gone blind. The fog in his brain was growing fast, and he attempted trying to call for help. The brain stems connected to his vocal cords had stopped working though, so all that came out was a strange-sounding, “Hah.” He stumbled a few steps and felt his balance slipping as everything slowed down to a stop. 

Gen was sure that he was on the ground now. The rough impact he felt was hard to ignore. Voices were surrounding him, but he couldn’t piece together what they were saying. Like he was underwater, and everyone else was on land. 

Like that, he just floated in and out for a while. His consciousness drifted back and forth like a boat, and the muddled voices near him were nothing if not completely foreign to him. Every sense had left him besides his hearing, which prevented him from fully going under. 

_How disappointing._ Gen distantly thought. _Perhaps he should be more worried about his own situation, rather than complaining about the fact that he wasn’t fully unconscious._

Then a sudden sharp spike of cold enveloped him, and every sense came back to him at once. His eyes flew open, his hearing returned in full, and he felt the freezing cold water reach up to his neck. His voice came last as he let out a sharp squeal at the sudden change. 

Water… Why was he in a cold water bath? _And who the hell had undressed him?!_ He was wearing nothing but the pants he always wore, which were now soaked along with him. Near him were the others, all standing close around him. 

Kohaku, who, by her position, looked like she was the one to drop him in the bath. Senku, who stood beside her with a weird sort of grin on his face. Chrome, who looked utterly lost in what to do, was behind Senku, and Suika to his left, was hanging over the ledge of the bath. He couldn’t see her face but could tell she was tense. 

“Wakey, wakey mentalist,” Senku said, and boy did he look smug about something. 

“The hell is this for?” Gen tried to say which ended up coming out more as a mumbled whining. His voice wasn’t completely back yet, though. Neither had the fog completely lifted from his brain even though a significant amount had cleared, he still felt out of it. 

He heard Senku laughing and felt his cheeks start to blush. “You got heatstroke, mentalist.” 

Gen moved around, trying to find the best angle to get out of the bath without sloshing water on the floor. “Heat stroke?” 

“Heh, your body overheated, and you passed out.” Senku walked towards him and pushed him back into the water, just when he had made progress towards getting out. “Seriously, you wear too many damn layers.” Senku continued. 

Kohaku nodded in agreement. “I agree, it’s the hottest season we’ve had in a while.” 

“Gen will be alright, though?” Came Suika’s small voice. 

“I’ll be fine, Suika.” Gen quickly said, patting her watermelon mask. 

Senku interrupted by shoving a towel at him, which Gen almost didn’t manage to catch without getting it soaked in the bath. “Actually you’ll need a few days to recover.” 

Gen paused. “Huh?! Why a few days, that’s not fair, I’m fine!” He was given a cup of water to drink, and he gulped it down as if it were nectar. 

“Yeah? Get out of that bath and walk to that cabinet and back.” Senku ordered. The others took a step back, and suddenly, all eyes were on him. Gen didn’t get stage fright. He was a performer after all, but for some reason, he couldn’t stop the anxiety that was curling in his stomach. 

This was a test. _Obviously._ One Gen was determined not to fail and prove his point. His legs seemed to have other ideas, though, as the minute he was standing upright, he swayed and fell over. His limbs were weak, and pushing himself up to contain what was left of his pride was impossible. The strength just wasn’t there. 

“Not a word,” Gen muttered as Suika worriedly ran to him and tried helping him. 

“Vertigo plus adrenalin rush, then crash.” Senku listed. “That and dry lips, means you’re dehydrated.” 

Gen sat back and leaned against the back of the tub. He wrapped the towel around him, to contain the weird shivers that now plagued him. “Damn it.” 

“Which means bed rest and a hydration routine,” Senku added, rifling with the hut’s expansive collection of items, to which Chrome went over to help him. Kohaku picked up the bath and went to dump it back out in the river. That left him and Suika still on the floor. 

“Ugh.” Gen groaned in disbelief.

———————

They needed iron again. Most of the projects they were doing now, had required iron, which meant they needed the workforce to do it. Senku walked out of the lab and found the iron-pumping group was up and running already. They consisted of three villagers he hasn’t gotten to know yet and Gen. They all looked miserable, and Senku was considering just postponing the project until the next day. It really was boiling. Senku started walking towards the group when he noticed something a little off about their resident mentalist. Upon closer look, it seemed that Gen wasn’t putting his all into the work. He looked exhausted, and they had barely run for 15 minutes.

Senku walked closer to investigate. 

Gen’s face was pale, which brought out the red flush of his cheeks even more. Then he suddenly let go of the pump and stumbled backward. A slight mumbling could be heard before Gen was pitching forward and hitting the ground hard. 

Senku, Kohaku, and Chrome immediately jumped forward for aid. Senku checked his pulse to find it beating a little too fast, and his skin felt like molten lava. They rolled Gen over, who seemed to be unconscious. 

“Gen?” Senku called, slapping his cheek. Everyone started asking questions at once. 

Chrome was the first to start, “What happened?” 

“Gen! Is he alright?” Suika appeared, running towards them. 

“Could he be sick?” Kohaku asked. 

“No, it’s heatstroke,” Senku said, raising his hand to stop them from asking anything else. “We need to get him to Chrome’s hut.” 

Together, they managed to haul Gen up to Chrome’s hut, where Senku then started barked out orders. 

“Kohaku, grab a barrel and fill it with cold water. Suika go with her and fill a small bowl with water and bring a cloth as well.” Senku turned to Chrome, who nodded and helped him sit Gen up. His head lolled around and ended up resting on Senku’s chest. 

“Crap, we gotta get him out of these clothes,” Senku said. There was an edge to his voice, and he didn’t know why. _Why was he so nervous?_

The two girls left, and he and Chrome tried to get a limp Gen’s clothes off. The first two layers were easy. The third layer or the undershirt was harder to untie, and the guard was almost too tight to unwrap. They managed it though and set his clothes off to the side to be washed. 

They decided to leave his pants on and let Gen choose what to do with them. Kohaku and Suika returned, bringing the supplies they were ordered to bring. Kohaku dropped the bath in the middle of the room, and Senku turned to her. “Right, can you pick him up?” He asked.

“Easily.” Kohaku bent down and picked Gen up as if he were a feather to her. 

Senku pointed to the bath. “Good, now drop him in here.” 

The minute she did, Gen suddenly woke up and flailed his arms around, squealing as the cold broke him out of his stupor. 

“Wakey, wakey mentalist,” Senku said, a smug sort of look on his face.

———————

A bed with the thinnest blankets possible was then set up for him in Chrome’s hut, and it gave Gen deja vu to lay there. He was then put on a tight schedule of drinking a cup of water every hour, taking two cold baths a day, and continuous testing of his muscles to gain his strength back. It was honestly a bit much in Gen’s opinion. He never thought heat stroke could be that serious.

The rest of the time, he was bored to high heaven. There was nothing to do but stare at the ceiling of the hut. He had once gotten out of bed to fiddle with some rocks when Senku scolded him and sent him back to bed. He also randomly got cold for some reason. His body would tremble like a leaf, and he’d wrap the blankets tightly around him to no avail. Senku had called it temperature drops and assured him they would pass. 

Suika ended visiting him during the afternoons and played with him for a while, bringing numerous flowers to weave crowns and bracelets out of. Gen was grateful for the company. He mentally cursed when he ended up getting a dizzy spell during one of her visits, which made her panic. 

“Do you feel alright? I’ll get Senku!” Suika said, standing up really fast and running towards the door. 

“It’s okay, Suika-chan~ I’m fine.” Gen barely managed to call out before she left. 

“Are you sure? I can get Senku.”

Gen sighed and motioned her to sit down again. “Really, I’m okay.” 

She hesitated before sitting down with a small. “Okay.” From there, they went back to weaving flowers in silence. 

“It’s weird.” Suika suddenly said. 

“Hmm? What’s weird?”

“Heat stroke never lasts this long in the village.”

Gen felt his heart clench at the statement. Was he really this weak? “Well it could be because I’m from a different era.” Gen tried to assure her but ended up trying to convince himself more. 

“Still, seeing Senku that worried was scary.” 

Now that piqued Gen’s interest. “Oh? Was Senku-chan worried for me?”

“Mm,” she nodded. “I was too.”

“And I appreciate the concern, dear Suika-chan~” Gen smiled, and she smiled back. Gen held up the finished product in his hands. “There, all done.” He placed it with the other numerous flower accessories they made. “Why don’t you gift these to your friends in the village? I’m sure Kohaku would love one.” 

Suika beamed before grabbing as many as she could and ran out to the village. She nearly made Senku lose his balance on the ladder. He was bringing blueprints and such with him into the hut. After dropping them on the shelf, Senku went about talking to Gen about various things they were doing. It was pretty normal now. 

Senku was in and out of the hut constantly, grabbing things off the shelves or bringing something new to place on the shelves. He’d then chat with Gen for a little while before leaving after he got him to drink more water. Despite the growing amount of visits, Gen still found himself counting the minutes between Senku’s appearances and disappearances. He was so utterly bored. 

When the sun went down, and everyone returned to their huts, Senku would test Gen’s endurance to see how far he had come in improving. By the second day, his strength was almost entirely returned. Gen was annoyed that it was taking so long. 

“Why is it only affecting me like this?” Gen whined as Senku shook his arm back and forth. 

“Because your body is more sensitive to the heat now that you’ve let it bring your body down.” 

Gen groaned. “I miss the air conditioning.” 

“Yeah, we aren’t there yet.” Senku laughed. He had to admit; it was nice talking to someone who knew of the modern inventions from their old-time 

“What’s air conditioning?” Chrome asked. 

“It’s a machine that continuously blows cold air without you needing to do anything.” Senku responded, “It’s ten billion percent more effective than fanning yourself with a leaf.” 

Chrome was practically glowing. “Really? We should make that!”

“Calm down; we don’t have the materials for it yet.” Senku said, making Chrome lose his wide smile. Senku sighed. “Maybe next summer.” 

Chrome’s wide smile returning was all the answer they needed as they settled for bed. Chrome was always the first to fall asleep since he and Senku were something of insomniacs. Senku was re-soaking the cold cloth in water to place on Gen’s neck when Gen spoke up. “I hate heatstroke,” Gen whispered his complaint. 

“That’s what you get for wearing four layers in hundred-degree weather.” 

Gen pouted at Senku from his position on the floor. He was already lying down on his bed while Senku was sitting up near his head. “It’s for protection,” he said. 

“You’re really paranoid; you know that?”

Gen scoffed. “Wouldn’t you be as well? Tsukasa, the strongest primate high schooler, is our enemy.” 

“Hmph, science is ten billion percent stronger,” Senku muttered. 

Gen smiled and reached his hand up to cup Senku’s face. “So show me, Senku-chan ~.” 

“Huh?” Senku looked confused at the sudden gesture. 

“Show me how strong science really is.” It took all of Gen’s might not to giggle at Senku’s blushing cheeks. After a brief pause, Senku ducked his head away, muttering out, “The heats gotten into your brain.” 

Gen let out the giggles he was holding in. “It sure felt like it.” He caught Senku smiling at him before Senku leaned away and tucked himself into his own bed. 

“You still need rest, so go to sleep, mentalist.” Despite the order, there was no bite to his tone at all. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Senku-chan ~” Gen couldn’t get the smile off his face. Baby steps... He could wait until Senku was more comfortable with affection. For now, he could strive with the little touches and watch Senku get flustered from it. 

The morning came by fast, and Gen was nudged awake for a final check by Senku. One that he finally passed. 

He felt way better now and with permission, was allowed out of bed. It was a pure relief that he wouldn’t be stuck up in the hut, bored out of his mind. However, he did make a point to avoid the iron machine like it was the plague, and Senku ended up just having him do jobs in the lab with him. Gen was grateful. Not only did he get to be in the shade all the time, but he was also able to gain good company with it. 

_Very good company, indeed. _

**Author's Note:**

> ALRIGHT, so this is written from my own experience with heatstroke since I live somewhere that stays the same 80-90 degrees all year round. And since I mostly only wear black clothes, let's just say I've gotten heatstroke quite a lot. While everyone has snow, I'm dealing with a heatwave, so I thought I'd write the Science Kingdom dealing with it too. That and Gen wears so many damn layers like how? I know Japan gets very hot too, in summer. 
> 
> Want fic updates? I have a tumblr! @/ Widow-Spyder
> 
> Anyway, hope you liked it and thanks for reading this far!


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